Body Parts

A bit of filthy twitching this morning over to Loch of Clevigarth, Lesser Yellowlegs, Pectoral Sandpiper and Wood Sandpiper showing reasonably well, also 6 Snow Buntings and 2 Bramblings over.

Lesser Yellowlegs

Pectoral Sandpiper and Lesser Yellowlegs

The Magic Pool

Out today for about 10 minutes until it lashed it down, and I gave up - I did find a Wood Warbler though, albeit a dead one. So due to a lack of birds, birding or both, here's a bit about the Magic Pool. The Magic Pool of Scatness (twinned with the secret 'Magic Ditch of Virkie) is located to the south of Loch of Gards and is pretty much dried up most summers, only getting water in it from the end of August onwards, and is about 30 feet long by about 12 feet wide - tiny ! So far this year it has hosted Avocet, Little Egret (just about annual now in Shetland), Pectoral Sandpiper, 2 Little Stints and a Buff-breasted Sandpiper - so it really does now warrant the name Magic Pool.

The Magic Pool viewed from the end of the Scatness road

How small is that ?!!!

Little Egret on the 30th May.

Avocet on the 23rd May

Buff-breasted Sandpiper on 23rd September.

One of the 2 Little Stints present this month

Pectoral Sandpiper present this month

Pec

The waders on the patch continue to increase little by little, 21 Dunlin, 8 Knot and 8 Sanderlings, but the star birds were a Pectoral Sandpiper and Little Stint.

Pec Sand overkill

Pec.

In a northerly wind, Scatness had a proper wintry feel about the place, and the birds made it feel even more so, with 10 Whooper Swans and 38 Wigeon on the Loch, 30+ Snow Buntings out on the headland and 2 Pink-footed Geese still in one of the fields. The Pectoral Sandpiper was on the Loch shore for a while until flying off towards Moast beach (though no sign of it there, when checked later). Female Blackcap in the garden.


Pectoral Sandpiper.

Common Gull.

Pink-footed Goose.

Whooper Swans.